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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
PHILIPPINE purchases of oil as well as rice and
other cereals pushed the country’s import bill to grow by double
digits for a fifth straight month in March, the National Statistics
Office (NSO) reported Tuesday.
The NSO said imports grew 12.1 percent to $5.121
billion from $4.567 billion in the same month last year. In
February, imports were up by 21.7 percent.
The March purchases led total imports to rise by
20.1 percent to $14.606 billion in the first quarter this year from
$12.161 billion in the same three-month period last year.
Exports for the first quarter inched up by just
2.7 percent to $12.536 billion, causing a trade deficit of $2.070
billion, a reversal from the $181-million surplus last year. In
March alone, the balance of trade turned in a deficit of $928
million.
Electronics, which accounted for 36.8 percent of
the total import bill, fell 17 percent to $1.883 billion from last
year’s $2.263 billion. Among the major groups of electronic
products, semiconductor components and devices accounted for the
biggest share of 28.5 percent, down by 20.4 percent to $1.462
billion from $1.837 billion last year.
The decline in electronics purchases points to
weaker exports in the months to come, as these items are assembled
into the country’s major dollar-earning shipment abroad.
Purchases of mineral fuels, lubricants and
related materials in March followed with a 22.8-percent share, but
surged 87.1 percent to $1.169 billion over the previous year’s
$625.02 million. Cereals and cereal preparations, which include
rice, also jumped by 151 percent to $184.46 million from $73.49
million last year.
The country’s rice imports in March surged
404.43 percent to $90.65 million from $17.97 million in the same
period last year. Unmilled cereals, excluding rice and corn, went up
139.69 percent to $810 million year-on-year.
Transport equipment imports also rose 52.5
percent to $268.09 million from last year’s $175.81 million.
Rounding up the list of the top imports for
March were industrial machinery and equipment with $170.73 million;
iron and steel, $131.99 million; organic and inorganic chemicals,
$121.41 million; plastics in primary and non-primary forms, $102.71
million; dairy products, $84.17 million; and textile yarn, fabrics,
made-up articles and related products, $72.74 million.
Payment for the country’s top ten imports for
March reached $4.188 billion or 81.8 percent of the total import
bill.
Singapore was the Philippines’ biggest
supplier with a 13.4-percent share of the total import bill or an
increase of 29.7 percent to $686.35 million year-on-year.
The US followed with a 13.3-percent share, but
the $683.41 million in purchases from the world’s biggest economy
suffered a decline of 13.2 percent from last year.
Japan trailed with $556.86 million, down by 5.7
percent from $590.72 million last year.
Other major sources of imports for the month
were Saudi Arabia, $437.11 million; Taiwan, $392.42 million;
People’s Republic of China, $360.23 million; Republic of Korea,
$240.92 million; Malaysia, $214.64 million; Thailand, $209.01
million; and United Arab Emirates, $159.76 million.
Payments for imports from the top ten sources
amounted to $3.941 billion or 77 percent of the total.
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